Email Autoresponders Are Vital To Your Online Business.

In today's Digital World, people expect things right away. So when they click on that link on your page that tells them to "click here for more information" they don't expect to wait for your staff to come in for the day or finish their meeting or check their email.

Don't Make Them Wait. Use Autoresponders to Answer Information Requests

When web visitors ask a question they expect an immediate answer. Your autoresponder system can help you improve your customer service and keep your costs down. Just follow a few simple guidelines.

Tell them the response they're reading is automated.

They "should" know that your email is automated, but some won't. And if they don't they might be offended if you don't address their personal and very specific concerns.

So tell them you've automated your system and why. This doesn't have to be complicated.

Just say something like: "We're sending this automated reply to your request for information to make sure you get your answer as quickly as possible."

Give them the information they requested.

There's a site I used to visit that had only a single autoresponder to answer every information request. The message was always the same: "Thank you for your inquiry. One of our staff will be in touch with you shortly."

That's infuriating. You promised them information. Give them information, not another promise.

The way to do this is to set up separate autoresponders for each request. Then customize the response to give the information you promised.

The trick is to match up the link they clicked on and the reply they get. Let's say you sell insurance and you specialize in products for people over fifty. One of your products might be long term care insurance.

The link on your site would say something like: "Click here for more information on long term care insurance."

And your email response would say something like: "Here's the information you requested about long term care insurance."

Give them some options to go further.

No matter how carefully you put an automated response together, there's simply no way that you'll be able to exactly answer every question. That's OK, you've already told your prospect that they're getting an automatic response and you've shown your goodwill by giving them good information. 

Build on that by giving them options about what to do if they didn't get the information they needed. There are two ways to do that.

Give them pointers to other information sources.  These would be links to web locations or other autoresponders on specific topics.

Give them a human option. Let them know they can email you for a personal response and give them a specific email address to use.

Follow up and make more sales.

Use the autoresponder system to check up on your prospect. Set up the system to send a follow-up email a few days after their first request. Use it to ask if they got what they wanted.

This does two things for you. First, it shows the prospect that you're concerned about meeting their needs. Second, it gives you one more contact that may result in a new client.

Autoresponders can be powerful tools for sharing marketing information with your prospects. Just be sure to tell them your response is automated, give them the information you promised, give them some options and then follow up.